We’re doing it again. Pat the Dog Playwright Centre will be hosting our second annual 24-Hour Playwriting Contest from 4:00 PM Friday, October 1st to 4:00 PM October 2nd, 2010.

Fire up the computer, grab your lucky mug and jump into your pjs because this year all contestants write offsite. Hit the keys at home, in a coffee shop, on a bus… the location is up to you. There’s no entry fee and no restrictions on length. All you have to do is write an original script in 24 hours. How easy it that?

Not very. But the rewards could be great. Last year’s winner, You Know I Love You Still by Maggie Clark is slated for a full production as part of  Tottering Biped’s 2011 season. Third place winner, Aftershock by Evan Tsitsias, is playing until August 14th in Toronto at Summerworks to rave reviews in Now Magazine and the Toronto Star.

Rules & Regulations:

1. The contest is open to anyone living in Ontario, except contest Jurors. Space is limited to the first 30 entrants, accepted on a first come, first served basis. To enter you must download and email a completed 24-hour Entry Form-2010 to the email address listed on the form.
2. Entrants can work from a page of prepared notes, but all plays are to be original works.
3. The script must include, in some form, the three secret words we select. These words will be emailed to the participants at 4:00 on Friday, October 1st, 2010.
4. Participants must email their play to scripts@patthedog.org no later than 4:00 PM on Saturday, October 2nd.
5. Scripts must be in electronic format (acceptable extensions include .doc .rtf .pdf or .txt), written in 12 point Arial, Courier or Times Roman, double-spaced between speaking parts, and formatted for 8 1/2” X 11” paper.
6. The title page should contain the title of the play, your name, contact number and email. The play itself must NOT contain your name, but have a header with the play title and page numbers.

Prizes & Notification:
Winners will be announced on our website on Monday, October 4 at 4:00 PM.

Prizes will be awarded as follows:

• First place prize will be $500, a public staged reading of the winning script and full bragging rights. We’ll also feature you on our website in a Q&A.
• Second place: a reading
• Third place: a reading

Pat the Dog Playwright Centre’s piece/meal sessions played to full houses during the recent Magnetic North Theatre Festival. Our audience members aren’t the only ones to take notice. Four piece/meal scripts have made their way to theatre festivals in Toronto, Hamilton and Winnipeg.

• Aftershock by Evan Tsitsias is playing at Summerworks in Toronto from August 7 to the 14. Check the website for dates and times.

• Northern Daughter by Donna Creighton will be appearing at  THIN AIR (Winnipeg International Writers Festival) in September 2010.

• An extended version of Bungalow by Vern Thiessen played to rave reviews at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. Joff Schmidt gave it five stars in his CBC review saying, “Thiessen chooses details with an expert writer’s attention to detail, teasing at times, revealing just enough to engage us, breaking off at just the right points. What’s revealed is funny without being hammy; touching without being cloying.”

• A Message to Alex Moore by Trevor Copp is playing August 14th at the Tottering Biped’s 2010 Wobbling Ink New Play Event.

It begins with  Shawn DeSouza-Coelho as “The Man in the Window,” performing magic and conjuring the playful spirit that drives the creativity behind piece/meal. Stay for a bite and enjoy a series of thought-provoking excerpts. Intimate and playful, these fresh new works-in-development will breath life into the deserted Artery space.  The line-up includes a mix of pieces from up-and-coming local voices, as well as established artists, including Governor-General-award-winner Vern Thiessen and award-winning singer/songwriter Donna Creighton.

Magnetic North runs June 9 to 19th. See their website for details.

piece/meal runs
June 14 – 16 from 11am-1pm
The Artery at 158 King Street West, Kitchener (map here)
Admission: $15. Free to Industry Series participants. Brunch included.

MONDAY, JUNE 14, 2010

You Know I Love You Still by Maggie Clark

After being held captive for 16 years in her kidnapper’s basement, Eleanor ventures into her first relationship with a man haunted by his own recently ended 15-year marriage. With humour and warmth, the play unravels the story after the story.

Poet/playwright Maggie Clark was full-time Editor-in-Chief of Imprint, UW’s official student newspaper. Her poetry has been published in RATTLE, The Pedestal and ditch magazine.

In the remote New Mexico community of Gehenna, the citizens are spontaneously combusting. In another world, a devastated family searches for missing pieces of their son, after his body returns from war.  Gehanna is a story told in two parts, two worlds, the dreamscape of a hidden, unknown world and the hyper-realism of a world known too well. Hearts escape from mournful chests, angles lose their way, and people disappear with the final telling of their stories.

Adam’s first play, Headache Grey, was produced by Theatre & Company in 1999 and was produced the following year at Buddies in Bad Times. then she was presented in 2003 by Rumble Productions and produced by Shifting Point. Other credits include A Cloudless Sky and Alone, both produced by REIRart. In June, A Map of Somewhere Only We Know will be produced in Toronto as part of the InspiraTO Festival.

Northern Daughter is a one-woman musical sprung from the song of the same name. Liz is from up north: She hasn’t been home in 30 years. Northern daughter comes home.

Donna is a Canadian-acclaimed singer/songwriter. Nominated form a Canadian Fold Music Award, she has won the London Music Award for Folk/World/Celtic 4 times and twice been awarded the Jack Richardson Award. Over the past 10 years she has toured North America with Sirens, sharing the stage with countless talented musicians, including Bruce Cockburn, Philosopher Kings and Lisa Loeb.

TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2010

Aftershock by Evan Tsitsias

Anna has returned from a reality makeover television show. Back in the trailer she shares with her family, she finds them shocked at her transformation.

Evan recently produced Bagged, a short film he wrote for the CBC, airing later this year and screened in March at WIFT. He has also produced the Canadian Premiere of Homebody/Kabul (Dora Nomination) at Berkeley St. Theatre. Evan is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab in New York City.

In 1942, The Government of Canada forced 100 families off 17,500 acres of farmland in the St. Vincent Township of Southwestern Ontario. The reason? The land was needed as an Armored Vehicle Fighting Area to train troops for the war effort overseas. The Tank Range Project explores the farmers’ sacrifice and relevance of the land’s use.

Founding members of the Grey-Bruce Arts Collective, Roger Shank and Jamie Robinson have worked with companies across the nation, such as: The Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Canstage, the Lorianne Kimsa Theatre for Young People, the Citadel Theatre and Neptune Theatre. They are based out of Meaford.

Considered the bible of international-style ballroom, Alex Moore’s Ballroom Dancing contains all the steps and elements essential to that art form. There are no new steps and no new conventions. Period. What happens when two gay men question why? An examination of partner dancing: How it works, how it feels and what it says through the eyes of two men who enjoy dancing together and are inquisitive enough to try to figure out why.

Jeff Fox is a professional ballroom dancer, choreographer and author living in Kitchener. Trevor Copp is an actor, mime and ballroom dancer.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2010

The Maple Leaves by Heather Debling

Based upon the true story of the Maple Leaves, a WWI concert troupe formed to boost the morale of the men on the front lines, Deblings’ play considers where duty really lies.

Heather Debling is a writer based in Stratford, Ontario.

A man returns to his childhood home searching for secrets buried in the backyard of his parents’ bungalow. A haunting story of a father, his son, and the mystery that lies between them, this new work is the latest from one of Canada’s most produced playwrights.

Vern Thiessen has written for stage, radio and television. His stage plays have been seen across Canada, the US and Europe, including Shakespeare’s Will, Apple, Einstein’s Gift, Blowfish, The Resurrection of John Frum and Vimy. Thiessen is the recipient of numerous awards including the Governor General’s Literary Award, Canada’s highest honour for playwriting.

Eager to hear more? Got a poem to share? Join Pat the Dog and Kevin Sutton in June for more open mike, more SLAM and more great verse.

June Poetry SLAM!
June 26, 2010
7:00 PM to 10:00 PM
The Button Factory
25 Regina Street South, Waterloo

Tickets at the door. PWYC, suggested donation $5.

The Pat the Dog Playwright Centre’s Table Sessions are over for the summer. Need your performing arts fix? The region is bursting with creativity.

Visit the Magnetic North Theatre Festival (and Pat the Dog’s piece/meal brunchtime reading series) is in town. And just down the road in Toronto there’s 10-minute plays at InspiratTO, lots of indie pieces at SummerWorks, and cutting edge theatre at the Toronto Fringe. Just to name a few.

We’ll be back in September with a new series of session, workshops, readings and events. Stay tuned for updates.

In this spoken-word poetry competition, judges and performers come from the audience itself. Got something to say? You’ll have three minutes at the mike. Participants are welcomed on a first-come basis. Sign up early online via our Facebook Group, SLAM! ‘Box in a Button, or at the event itself.

To encourage creativity, First Prize goes to the highest scoring poet; Second Prize goes to the lowest scoring poet. In partnership with the Living Earth Festival, the winner also receives promotion through a spotlight poetry set at the inaugural Speaker’s Corner spoken word event (part of the Living Earth Festival!) on Saturday, April 24. More prize details still to come!

Can’t make the event? Join the discussion or look for future slam events on our SLAM! ‘Box in a Button Facebook Group.

Whether you wish to perform or just listen, the event is pay-what-you-can and open to all.

April 23, 2010
7:00 PM to 10:00 PM
The Button Factory
25 Regina Street South,
Waterloo, ON

Pat the Dog Playwright Centre is pleased to announce we’ve been chosen to present the playwright reading series for this year’s Magnetic North Theatre Festival.

piece/meal is a brunch-time series providing an intimate, playful introduction to fresh new plays in development from intriguing new theatre artists. All excerpts are from full-length plays currently under development at Pat the Dog Playwright Centre.  Come taste our spicy, innovative, invigorating new work served up with a soupcon of style, brioche and caffeine.

piece/meal takes place at:

The Artery
158 King Street West
Kitchener, ON (click here for the Google Map)
June 14, 15, 16, 2010
11 AM – 1 PM

Admission is free to Magnetic North Theatre Festival Industry Series participants.  For everyone else, it’s PWYC with a suggested donation of $15. Brunch is included on a first-come, first-served basis so arrive early.

While actors will benefit immensely, actors are not the only people these techniques empower. This theatre training is for anyone seeking dynamic learning opportunities that will increase self awareness and confidence. This training de-mechanizes the body from repetitive and automatic action, liberates the mind from assumptive patterning, and frees the creative spirit to animate the thoughts and feelings that come with our experiences. Theatre training helps participants connect with each other by encouraging more effective communication through more liberated self-expression.

Saturday March 13, 2010
Button Factory
9-2pm
Free to Pat the Dog members
$50 non-members

Conducted by Heather Majaury.

You will:

• Learn about the Theatre of the Oppressed system of play creation
• Experience exercises, game and techniques including:
  • Newspaper Theatre
  • Image Theatre
  • Forum Theatre
  • Cops in the Head
  • Rainbow of Desires
• Participate in a democratized space encouraging creative collective decision making with an emphasis on problem solving
• Share stories and view them through a powerful theatrical mirror that allows for:
  • Insightful reflection
  • Analysis that leads to powerful decision-making
  • The possibility of transformative learning
• Carry what you learn outside the studio experience into your actual life

Note: Bring your own lunch.

To attend, RSVP to Lisa O’Connell at lisa@patthedog.org or call 519-886-4577.

Sometimes Y is about two men in love, continually orbiting the same relationship, but rarely finding alignment. This story is a collection of memories that creates the universe in which the characters exist, how it was formed and how it unravels.

What aspects of the play were you looking to explore during the workshop?
Sometimes Y is a play written in spoken word, poetry, and contemporary dialogue. It relies on the sounds and rhythms of the words to create the structure for these memories to exist. It brings the story and presents it in an imagistic way that hopefully anyone can relate to regardless of gender, orientation, or belief. I wanted to explore how my text could inform the physical action in the piece, while still giving much room for creative freedom within the performer.

What did you discover about your script or yourself during the workshop?
How intricate the words were, and how poignant they can be when used effectively… and adversely how ambiguous they can be when used frivolously. I discovered the major themes and questions that needed to be addressed –they just seemed to pop out — a new realm of storytelling, and the creation process with text at a table –where as I am used to rolling around on the floor.

What was the greatest benefit of the workshop?
Working with amazing people. Lisa O’Connell is such an amazing mentor and obelisk of knowledge. She adapted to my learning process. She struggled with me, wrestled with me, and patiently ripped off the band aids when questions needed to be asked. She nurtured the good writing and efficiently made me aware of areas that could be excised.

Trevor Copp and Dan Nicks, the actors at the workshop, both have distinctly unique approaches to the work. The value of their perceptions to my work was immeasurable. It is a privilege to be able to put you work on another person’s body. These incredible artists speak your words, move to your action, and feel to your design — while bringing their own stories to the table. It makes the work full, it is an honor, and I’m grateful.

Any final comments you’d like to add?
This piece was inspired by a break up, and the stories of so many friends and loved ones who shared their hearts with me. I wrote it during Pat the Dog’s 24-Hour Playwriting Contest after seeing some amazing dance. I had no expectations going in and didn’t think much of the piece when it was done. But I learned a lot more than I thought I did. And I appreciate the potential that people saw in the work. When encouragement is sincerely felt, it makes you confident, and hopeful — which is a great inspiration to keep writing. Thanks PtD!

The piece explores a woman’s struggle to shake the ghosts and voices of her past as she struggles to move forward and allow herself a chance at happiness.

What aspects of the play were you looking to explore during the workshop?
I initially wrote this piece as a short story and have struggled to adapt it into a theatre piece without losing the lyrical quality of the writing from the short story. There are three versions of the character of “Mary” at three specific points in her life. My main goal was to deconstruct the three different “Mary’s” and give them each a distinct voice. I also wanted to explore ways to create action through memory and create a linear structure to the piece while navigating the unstructured human mind. Not an easy task!

What did you discover about your script or yourself during the workshop?
I discovered so many different things about both this script and myself during this process. As the workshop continued, I had to come to terms with the fact that this piece is not your traditional narrative. I always envisioned the piece as highly physical with potent images as its backbone. The style of the piece is a huge departure for me and it dawned on me as the workshop progressed that this piece is a fusion of physical theatre, images, music and text that requires a very different approach than I had originally anticipated. It’s a very exciting prospect and I look forward to tackling the piece with this in mind. It was a very liberating discovery.

As for what I discovered about myself, there were too many to list. It’s a vulnerable experience having your words spoken aloud and dissected by a group, but the workshop reaffirmed for me my love of collaboration. Working with all these different people and opinions could have been daunting, but I welcomed the feedback and ideas and realized once again the power of the collective mind.

What was the greatest benefit of the workshop?
The workshop was like a crash course in playwriting for me. I actually loved having a “deadline” for rewrites every night before the next day of working. Sometimes I find myself procrastinating while I write and this process forced me, (in a gentle way) to push through any obstacles and work my way through them. I made more strides with this piece in the three days of the workshop than in the last few months on my own.

I can’t tell you how instrumental Lisa and Pat the Dog have been, not only to my development of this piece, but also as a playwright. It’s a blessing to be given this kind of support and a safe environment to play and explore and exchange ideas with the only goal being to help develop work.